March 24, 2010
LAS VEGAS -
******ADDITION TO ORIGINAL STORY******
The start of the 2010 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships has been postponed by 24 hours until Friday morning, it was announced by the NCAA on Wednesday night.
The cause of the delay is due to a ruling by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention after a total of eighteen swimmers and one coach from three different teams were treated for a gastrointestinal illness after arriving in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State and the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion is the site of this year's NCAA Championships.
The championship meet will begin at 12 pm EST on Friday, and the three-day meet will now conclude on Sunday instead of Saturday.
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Five swimmers will be representing the 24th-ranked UNLV Rebels at this week's 2010 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. This year's championship is being held from Thursday through Saturday at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.
Live results of the championships can be found here
UNLV, which won a MWC record sixth-straight conference championship in February, has spent the entire season ranked in the top 25, which is also a first for the Rebel swimming program. The squad has high hopes of scoring at the national meet for the first time in three years, as three Rebels are ranked in the top 16 in their events entering the championships, while UNLV's 200 medley relay squad is also seeded 11th. Top 16 in each event will score points at the NCAA championships.
Leading the way is junior Kier Maitland, two-time MWC Swimmer of the Year. He is seeded 14th in the 1650 free with a time of 14:58.35, while he is also ranked 27th in the 500 free (4:19.82) and 49th in the 200 free (1:37.33).
Another high-ranked Rebel is freshman Cody Roberts, seeded 14th in the 100 fly (46.66). He will also compete in the 100 back (41st, 48.67) and the 50 free (56th, 20.22). The third Rebel to have a top-16 seeded time is sophomore Andrew Morrell, who has the 15th-fastest time in the field of the 200 breast, 1:55.75. Morrell will swim the 100 breast (26th, 53.77) and the 50 free (60th, 20.27) as well.
Two more Rebels will be competing this week as well. David Seiler will swim the 200 IM (58th, 1:49.05), the 100 fly (32nd, 47.16) and the 200 fly (34th, 1:47.73), while Steven Nelms will race in the 50 free (43rd, 19.97) and the 100 fly (31st, 47.16). Roberts, Morrell, Seiler and Nelms make up the Rebels' 200 medley relay squad.
